Jesus: The Good Shepherd

Hello everyone.

Here we are with another snow day.  My fifth, this year.  Seemed like a good time for a little blogging.  Any way, I want to continue to discuss Jesus and his "I am" statements.  This time looking at John 10 where Jesus says "I am the good shepherd."

In this conversation with the Pharisees, Jesus has already said, "I am the gate for the sheep," where Jesus is the way into the really good life that we have in Christ.  Later in the conversation he makes his "good shepherd" statement two times.  In John 10:11 Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  The hired man is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep.  So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away.  Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.  The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep." Jesus makes a comparison here between a good shepherd and hired hand.  There are two difference here that I can see.  One is ownership.  The good shepherd owns the sheep.  The hired hand does not.  This brings about the second difference, which is the level of caring about the sheep.  Deep down the hired hand cares nothing for the sheep because they are simply a means to a paycheck for him.  The good shepherd, however, cares deeply about the sheep.  They are more than a means to an income to him.  He loves them and lays his life down for them.

I have to say that I would not make a very good shepherd.  I just don't think that I could lay my life down for sheep.  I would reason that I am a man and that they are sheep and my life is simply more valuable than theirs.  I couldn't do it.  This is what makes Jesus such a good shepherd.  Just like sheep are not on the same level as men, we men are not on the same level as God.  You may be like me, and be unwilling to give yourself for a creature so far beneath you, Jesus wasn't like that at all.  His death on the cross on our behalf shows him to be the ultimate shepherd in terms of caring for the sheep.  Truly, He stoops down to make us great. (Ps 18:35)

In John 10:14 Jesus makes the statement again, "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me."  The other thing Jesus does that sets him apart as a shepherd is the relationship that he has with the sheep. He knows the sheep.  His sheep know him.  He has a relationship with them.  The good news for me is that I don't have to be a good shepherd.  I have to be a good sheep.  My job here is to know the good shepherd and do everything I can to ensure that he knows me.  It is a great comfort that Jesus, the Son of God, would desire a relationship with me, even enough to lay down his life for it.  It would be incredibly foolish to not seek that relationship.

Thank you, Good Shepherd.

Tom